UConn - Georgetown post game - Big East Champions!

[EricLA]

First, mega congratulations to the entire team. Might be one of the most impressive Big East runs in a long time. Down to 7 with only Qadence and Ines available off the bench, UConn took it to Georgetown right out the gate. AND kudos to the refs for calling 2 quick fouls on 2 Georgetown starters. Way to set the tone of "no more of this". I think Georgetown was surprised, then shellshocked, and the magnificent first quarter completely did them in.

Credit to Georgetown - they continued to battle and played stout defense for much of the rest of the game. Hard and tough, but not overly physical. The game was never really in doubt, just the margin of victory.

• Paige - another AA performance. Just wow. 27 points. 3 assists. 4 rebounds. 3 steals. 5 blocks. Not enough words or accolades for her.
• Ice - welcome to the big leagues, baby! Couldn't be more happy for her. 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and possibly most importantly, only 1 foul!! We needed her on the floor, and she was able to STAY on the floor. Just really impressive against Georgetown's senior laden front court.
• Ash and KK - 2 tremendous freshmen who may not be perfect on the floor, but give 100% every second they are out there. And more times than not, they deliver!
• Nika - where would we be without her? Heart and soul and blue blood! 9 assists!!!!
• Q - looked like she belonged and a terrific sub off the bench

Defense - just wow. 11...14...10...7 - just a tremendous effort. Georgetown may not be the most gifted offensive team, but man our defense was good. Especially the help defense when they got close to the basket. It was really nice to watch.

Way to go and congratulations again - Big East Champions. This one was hard earned and very rewarding. Rest up and on to the big dance!!!

 

[oldude]

A couple thoughts on tonight’s game:

• First off, I want to congratulate Georgetown for overcoming the painful loss of HC Tasha Butts to cancer before the season, and then going out and playing their hearts out for her every single night, making it to the BE championship game against all odds.
• Before tonight, UConn won their conference tournament 28 times (BE & AAC), including the last 10 in a row, leading some fans to take such achievements for granted. But tonight, with all the adversity this team has faced, championship #29 is special and should most definitely be celebrated by cracking open a cold one. CHEERS!!!
• Georgetown is big, physical and they foul a lot. I worried about UConn hanging with the Hoyas on the boards and staying out of foul trouble. For the game UConn was +8 on the boards with just 10 fouls.
• UConn’s defense wasn’t quite as suffocating as yesterday. But they were damned close.
• I think most of us would have been perfectly happy if Ice just gave us a game like yesterday’s. Obviously, Ice had another idea, as she elevated her game once again. Ice scored, rebounded, played defense, getting her hands on countless post entry passes, set screens and did a wonderful job distributing from the high post.
• Another “routinely spectacular” game by THE HUMAN ERASER with 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals & 5 BLOCKS!!!
• With 9 assists tonight, Nika passes DT for 2nd among UConn's all-time assist leaders at 651 career assists, just 8 behind Mo.
• Well, there were only 7 available players for UConn tonight, but EVERYBODY EATS!!!
• It’s on to the Big Dance. Undoubtedly, UConn will match up with talented teams that have more size, more depth, more experience and maybe a little overconfidence……

 

[Bone Dog]

The Huskies were dominating, they were fumble fingered, they ran tirelessly, they played suffocating defense, they missed layups, they hit 3s, they rebounded like demons. In other words, it was a typical hairy Big East tournament game.

Paige was stunning with killer daggers, steals, blocks (omg were there ever blocks), steadiness, insane plays. This was another portfolio performance. One block she took the ball right off Ransom’s hand before she could even release it. A block and steal in one.

If Ice matured in yesterday’s game, she really showed it again today. She played the entire game again! Rebounding, surehanded scoring, and utter consistency. She was the rock the rest of them could rely on. One full palm block in the 4th punctuated a great game for her. This is the Ice Geno expected to see last season. She has arrived.

KK had 9 pts, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and was everywhere on the court. She missed layups but stole rebounds from bigger players. Her energy was infectious and more than made up for the occasional flubs. Even if she doesn’t score on every drive, her relentlessness exhausted the Hoyas.

Nika had 8 pts 8 assists, and was another bit of the bedrock the team can always count on. She’s 8 away from the record. I hope Moriah comes to celebrate with her next game.

Ash with a quiet 8 points and a perfect defensive game. She can drop the dagger when needed, but she can also shut down the elbow. She will be a formidable player next season.

And finally Q: 9 pts on 3-5 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist 2 steals and a block. But even more important, she played really good defense -- the one weak spot in her game has gotten a lot better. This version of Q can play major minutes even in big games.

 

[victor64]

If UCONN shoots threes like they did in the first half against the Hoyas then Rebecca Lobo may be onto to something—watch out for Huskies in the big dance.

Over 18 minutes over a period of two games without giving up a point? Do they keep track of such things because that has to be some kind of record.

Four games in four days finally caught up to the Hoyas. It didn’t help at all that they got punched in the mouth in the first quarter.

Part of Ice’s struggles early in the year was that she dropped or fumbled a bunch of catchable passes. Kudos to her fixing that and a bunch of other things.

Winning the semi and final games in dominating fashion without Aaliyah is tribute to the staff (and Ice Brady) but also an indication how wide the gap is between UCONN and the rest of the Big East.

It gets talked about but probably not enough but Paige’s 47 block shots is ridiculous.

Allow me one nitpick. It was at least the third double dribble called on KK this year. She has a bad habit of bringing her left hand very close to the ball when she dribbles. Amazed she has not fixed it yet.

 

[kidfrom360]

So proud of this team, but VERY proud of ICE! She grew up this tournament and it's right on time!

 

[jcoton56]

Congratulations!

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Respect to Georgetown. Heck of a season and a heck of a tourney run. Keep that coach.

 

[veryolddog]

Awesome win! Not bad for a team with only 7 players. Paige is Paige, thank goodness. Brady again showing everyone what she has for tools. Really great performance and the rest of the gang performed well beyond expectations. Now onward to the tournament.

 

[uconnfan68]

The Huskies were dominating, they were fumble fingered, they ran tirelessly, they played suffocating defense, they missed layups, they hit 3s, they rebounded like demons. In other words, it was a typical hairy Big East tournament game.

Paige was stunning with killer daggers, steals, blocks (omg were there ever blocks), steadiness, insane plays. This was another portfolio performance. One block she took the ball right off Ransom’s hand before she could even release it. A block and steal in one.

If Ice matured in yesterday’s game, she really showed it again today. She played the entire game again! Rebounding, surehanded scoring, and utter consistency. She was the rock the rest of them could rely on. One full palm block in the 4th punctuated a great game for her. This is the Ice Geno expected to see last season. She has arrived.

KK had 9 pts, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and was everywhere on the court. She missed layups but stole rebounds from bigger players. Her energy was infectious and more than made up for the occasional flubs. Even if she doesn’t score on every drive, her relentlessness exhausted the Hoyas.

Nika had 8 pts 8 assists, and was another bit of the bedrock the team can always count on. She’s 8 away from the record. I hope Moriah comes to celebrate with her next game.

Ash with a quiet 8 points and a perfect defensive game. She can drop the dagger when needed, but she can also shut down the elbow. She will be a formidable player next season.

And finally Q: 9 pts on 3-5 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist 2 steals and a block. But even more important, she played really good defense -- the one weak spot in her game has gotten a lot better. This version of Q can play major minutes even in big games.

Q really came alive today. Sleepwalked yesterday, and started that way again, but really showed up on defense, and it jumpstarted her offense too.
Solid game by Ice, Ash, KK, and Nika, and a brilliant game by Paige.

 

[maple]

Wow, what can you say. Just a complete performance all around, from start to finish, from all the players. And to think they did it once again completely short handed!! Just locked in from the start and never let up with hustle and grit. They just truly embodied the spirit of past Husky great teams for this tournament — and put their own stamp on it, too!!

22nd Big East title!!!!!! 11th conference title in a row!!!!!! Incredible.

Paige was everything. And Nika is now 2nd in all time assist. Just special, special players. Can’t wait to see AE back on the court for the Big Dance as well.

Also let me just give a huge shout out to Georgetown. The score may be lopsided but they also played their hearts out. Incredible that they were picked to end the season at the bottom of the conference and yet they pulled off MULTIPLE upsets to play in the championship game. And even as the minutes were ticking down and the MOV grew, they were still hustling and scrapping and scoring. I know that Coach Butts was looking down on them with pride — and they deserve to hold their heads high. A great season for them and a great conference tournament run. The sky is the limit for them and I hope they can keep building off this success moving forward.

Now let’s enjoy this moment tonight and then get back to work tomorrow!!! It’s not over yet.

And finally — let’s go UConn MBB!!! Go win the damn thing!!!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

Only 9 turnovers with 4 freshmen playing a total 132 minutes. They had 3 of the 9 TOs

 

[Alydar]

With her 5 blocks tonight Bueckers broke the NCAA record for most blocks by a Lieberman winner in a season. 2nd and 3rd place are held by Taurasi with 46 and 45. 4th place is held by someone named Diggens with 27.

 

[Centerstream]

Paige was 4 points short of setting the BE 3 Game tournament scoring record.
Want to know what I love about UConn...she sat down and enjoyed her time on the bench with her wounded warrior team mates.
This is what a team player is!!!!!

 

[LwrcasefaN]

ICE smiling. Just awesome.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Blueballer]

Beautifully played Championsip win! CONGRATS!!

 

[JSB60]

I’m so amazed they had the best two games of the seasons without AE.

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe

 

[Surly1]

Aaliyah had better become familiar with the legend of Wally Pipp. All kidding aside, has it been worth the wait for the real Ice Brady to appear? She appears to have transformed from an unsure freshman to a confident, poised upperclassman overnight. What happened to nerves? It has been a bumpy ride, but she couldn't have picked a better time to assemble all her pieces. Like Paige, it has taken most of the season for the physical & mental aspects of her game to coalesce.

I think it is official to say that Paige is physically back. She's playing confidently, not tentative physically and to the satisfaction of most Boneyarders, she's embraced playing aggressively. Towards the end of the season, she was struggling with her outside shot. During the tournament, she was 12-24, 50%. Her value, her presence is so much more than her ability to score. She sees the court in 3-D, like a grand chess master.

Regardless of how this season ends, this has been a rewarding year. I am so excited to see what kind of damage UConn can do in the Big Dance with the superstar Paige Bueckers at the helm.

 

[Centerstream]

I’m so amazed they had the best two games of the seasons without AE.

or...in honor of Aaliyah

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[RoadMaster]